Method and system for WiFi access point utilizing full spectrum capture (FSC)

ABSTRACT

A WiFi access point (AP) includes a receive radio frequency (RF) front end and a baseband processor that controls operation of the receive RF front end. The RF front end captures signals over a wide spectrum that includes a plurality of WiFi frequency bands (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) and channelizes one or more WiFi channels from the captured signals. The baseband processor combines a plurality of blocks of WiFi channels to create one or more aggregated WiFi channels. The receive RF front end may be integrated on a first integrated circuit and the baseband processor may be integrated on a second integrated circuit. The first and second integrated circuits may be integrated on a single package. The RF front end and the baseband processor may be integrated on a single integrated circuit. The WiFi access point comprises a routing module that is communicatively coupled to the baseband processor.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS/INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/862,345, which was filed on Apr. 12, 2013 and which claims benefit ofpriority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/623,248, which wasfiled on Apr. 12, 2012.

This application also makes reference to:

-   -   U.S. application Ser. No. 13/485,003 filed on May 31, 2012;    -   U.S. application Ser. No. 13/336,451 filed on Dec. 23, 2011:    -   U.S. application Ser. No. 13/607,916 filed on Sep. 10, 2012;    -   U.S. application Ser. No. 13/857,776 filed on Apr. 5, 2013;    -   U.S. application Ser. No. 13/862,339 filed on Apr. 12, 2013;    -   U.S. application Ser. No. 13/862,336 filed on Apr. 12, 2013;    -   U.S. application Ser. No. 13/356,265, which was filed on Jan.        23, 2012; and    -   U.S. Pat. No. 8,010,070, (application Ser. No. 12/247,908),        which issued on Aug. 30, 2011, discloses exemplary        Low-Complexity Diversity Using Coarse FFT and Coarse        Sub-band-wise Combining.

Each of the above referenced applications is hereby incorporated hereinby reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Certain embodiments of the invention relate to wireless communication.More specifically, certain embodiments of the invention relate to amethod and system for WiFi access point utilizing full spectrum capture.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

WiFi Signals occupy bandwidth in two non-contiguous spectral bands inthe 2.4 and 5 GHz regions of the frequency spectrum.

Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditionalapproaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, throughcomparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention asset forth in the remainder of the present application with reference tothe drawings.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A system and/or method is provided for WiFi access point utilizing fullspectrum capture, substantially as shown in and/or described inconnection with at least one of the figures, as set forth morecompletely in the claims.

These and other advantages, aspects and novel features of the presentinvention, as well as details of an illustrated embodiment thereof, willbe more fully understood from the following description and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a block diagram of an exemplary system that comprises WiFidevices that communicate utilizing full spectrum capture, in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1B is a high-level block diagram of an exemplary full spectrumcapture transceiver device, in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 1C is a diagram of an exemplary full spectrum Access point and/orrouter that is operable to concurrently handle WiFi signals from aplurality of WiFi frequency bands, in accordance with an embodiment ofthe invention.

FIG. 1D is a high-level block diagram of an exemplary FSC WiFiintegrated circuit comprising FSC WiFi RF front end transceivercircuitry and baseband processing circuitry, in accordance with anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1E is a high-level block diagram of an exemplary FSC WiFi RF frontend transceiver integrated circuit and a baseband processing integratedcircuit packaged on a single integrated circuit package, in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1F is a high-level block diagram of an exemplary FSC WiFi RF frontend transceiver integrated circuit and a baseband processing integratedcircuit packaged on separate integrated circuit packages, in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an exemplary diversity WiFi receiver thatutilizes full spectrum capture, in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary I/Q RF receive processingchain module of a diversity WiFi receiver that utilizes full spectrumcapture, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary baseband processor, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating exemplary steps for receiving andprocessing WiFi signals utilizing a full spectrum capture WiFi accesspoint, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating exemplary steps for receiving andprocessing WiFi signals utilizing a full spectrum capture WiFi accesspoint, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating exemplary steps for receiving andprocessing WiFi signals utilizing a full spectrum capture WiFi accesspoint/router, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Certain embodiments of the invention may be found in a method and systemfor WiFi access point utilizing full spectrum capture (FSC). In variousaspects of the invention, a WiFi access point or router comprises areceive radio frequency (RF) front end and a baseband processor. Thebaseband processor is enabled to control operation of the receive RFfront end. The RF front end is operable to capture signals over a widespectrum that includes one or more WiFi frequency bands. The WiFifrequency bands may comprise, for example, a 2.4 GHz WiFi frequency bandand a 5 GHz WiFi frequency band. The various aspects and embodiments ofthe invention are not limited to the 2.4 and 5 GHz frequency bands andmay be utilized with other frequency bands without departing from thespirit and/or scope of the invention. The RF front end is operable tochannelize one or more WiFi channels from the captured signals. Thebaseband processor is operable to combine a plurality of blocks of WiFichannels to create one or more aggregated WiFi channels. Aggregatingalso comprises capturing and aggregating WiFi channels from a pluralityof non-contiguous WiFi frequency bands and keeping the resultingaggregated WiFI channels as separate logical channels. For example, thesingle FSC WiFi receiver may be operable to capture a plurality ofnon-contiguous 100 MHz bands and aggregate them as separate logical WiFichannels. The blocks of WiFi channels may comprise the extracted one ormore WiFi channels and/or other WiFi channels. The receive RF front endmay be integrated on a first integrated circuit and the basebandprocessor may be integrated on a second integrated circuit. The firstand second integrated circuits may be integrated on a single package.The RF front end and the baseband processor may be integrated on asingle integrated circuit. The WiFi access point may comprise a routingmodule that is communicatively coupled to the baseband processor. Thebaseband processor may be operable to diversity process the channelizedone or more WiFi channels and duty cycle communication traffic across aplurality of the aggregated WiFi channels. The baseband processor may beoperable to assign one of the aggregated WiFi channels as a dedicatedchannel for handling traffic for a WiFi enabled communication device.The baseband processor may be operable to dynamically reassign theassigned one of the aggregated WiFi channels as a dedicated channel forhandling traffic for another WiFi enabled communication device.

The WiFi access point comprises a routing module that is communicativelycoupled to the baseband processor. The baseband processor may diversityprocess the channelized one or more WiFi channels and duty cyclecommunication traffic across a plurality of the aggregated WiFichannels. The baseband processor may assign one of the aggregated WiFichannels as a dedicated channel for handling traffic for a WiFi enabledcommunication device. The baseband processor may dynamically reassignthe assigned one of the aggregated WiFi channels as a dedicated channelfor handling traffic for another WiFi enabled communication device. WiFiis short for wireless fidelity and refers to any wireless local areanetwork device, which is based on the IEEE 802.11 standard.

FIG. 1A is a block diagram of an exemplary system that comprises WiFidevices that communicate utilizing full spectrum capture, in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 1A, there isshown a wireless local area network (WLAN) 106, an Internet serviceprovide (ISP) network 108, a wireless wide area network (WWAN) 110 andthe Internet 116. Also shown are WiFi hotspot networks 112 and 114. FIG.1A also illustrates a plurality of WiFi enabled communication devicescomprising tablets 107 a, 111 a, 113 a, 115 a, Smartphones 107 b, 111 b,113 b, 115 b and laptops 107 c, 111 c, 113 c, 115 c. FIG. 1A alsoillustrates a WiFi enabled communication device comprising broadbandrouter or access point 106 a.

The tablet 107 a, the Smartphone 107 b and the laptop 107 c may becommunicatively coupled to the WLAN 106. The tablet 107 a, theSmartphone 107 b and the laptop 107 c may be collectively referenced asWiFi enabled communication devices 107. Each of the WiFi enabledcommunication devices 107 may comprise a suitable logic, circuitryinterfaces and/or code that may be operable to communicate utilizingWiFi. In this regard, each of the WiFi enabled communication devices 107may comprise a single transceiver device that may be operable to capturesignals over a very wide spectrum from different WiFi spectral bandsutilizing full spectrum capture.

The tablet 111 a, the Smartphone 111 b and the laptop 111 c may becommunicatively coupled to the WWAN 110. The tablet 111 a, theSmartphone 111 b and the laptop 111 c may be collectively referenced asWiFi enabled communication devices 111. Each of the WiFi enabledcommunication devices 111 may comprise a suitable logic, circuitryinterfaces and/or code that may be operable to communicate utilizingWiFi. In this regard, each of the WiFi enabled communication devices 111may comprise a single transceiver device that may be operable to capturesignals over a very wide spectrum from different WiFi spectral bandsutilizing full spectrum capture.

The tablet 113 a may comprise a WiFi hotspot 112. The tablet 113 a, theSmartphone 113 b and the laptop 113 c may be communicatively coupled tothe WiFi hotspot 112. The tablet 113 a, the Smartphone 113 b and thelaptop 113 c may be collectively referenced as WiFi enabledcommunication devices 113. Each of the WiFi enabled communicationdevices 113 may comprise a suitable logic, circuitry interfaces and/orcode that may be operable to communicate utilizing WiFi. In this regard,each of the WiFi enabled communication devices 113 may comprise a singletransceiver device that may be operable to capture signals over a verywide spectrum from different WiFi spectral bands utilizing full spectrumcapture. While tablet 113 a is shown as comprising the WiFi hotspot 112,any one of the WiFi enabled communication devices 113 (or alternativelyan access point or a router) may be used to establish a WiFi hotspot112.

The tablet 115 a may comprise a WiFi hotspot 114. The tablet 115 a, theSmartphone 115 b and the laptop 115 c may be communicatively coupled tothe WiFi hotspot 114. The tablet 115 a, the Smartphone 115 b and thelaptop 115 c may be collectively referenced as WiFi enabledcommunication devices 115. Each of the WiFi enabled communicationdevices 115 may comprise a suitable logic, circuitry interfaces and/orcode that may be operable to communicate utilizing WiFi. In this regard,each of the WiFi enabled communication devices 115 may comprise a singletransceiver device that may be operable to capture signals over a verywide spectrum from different WiFi spectral bands utilizing full spectrumcapture. While tablet 115 a is shown as comprising the WiFi hotspot 114,any one of the WiFi enabled communication devices 115 (or alternativelyan access point or a router) may be used to establish the WiFi hotspot114.

The WLAN 106 may comprise suitable devices and/or interfaces that may beutilized by the plurality of WiFi enabled communication devices 107 toaccess the Internet 116 via the ISP network 108. For example, the WLAN106 may comprise the WiFi enabled broadband access point or router 106 athat is operable to provide broadband connectivity to the ISP 108 andWLAN connectivity to each of the WiFi enabled communication devices 107.The broadband connectivity may be provided by, at least in part, cable,satellite and digital subscriber line (DSL) services, for example. TheWLAN 106 may also enable the WiFi enabled communication devices 107 tocommunicate with each other.

The WiFi enabled broadband access point or router 106 a may comprisesuitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operableto provide broadband connectivity to the ISP network 108 and WiFiconnectivity to each of the WiFi enabled communication devices 107. Inthis regard, the WiFi enabled broadband access point or router 106 aenables each of the tablet 107 a, the Smartphone 107 b and the laptop107 c to communicate utilizing WiFi to access the services and/or dataon the Internet 116 via the ISP network 108 and the WLAN 106.

The ISP network 108 may comprise suitable devices and/or interfaces thatmay be coupled to the Internet 116 and provide access to the Internet116 for various communication devices. The ISP network 108 may comprise,for example, a cable service provider network, a satellite serviceprovider network and a DSL service provider network. In this regard, theISP network 108 provides access to the Internet 116 for the WiFi enabledcommunication devices 107. For example, the ISP network 108 providesaccess to the services and/or data on the Internet 116 for each of thetablet 107 a, the Smartphone 107 b and the laptop 107 c via the WLAN106.

The wireless wide area network 110 may comprise suitable devices and/orinterfaces that may be coupled to the Internet 116 and provide access tothe Internet 116 for various communication devices. The wireless widearea network 110 may comprise, for example, a cellular service provider(e.g., LTE) and/or a broadband service provider such as, for example, aWiMax (802.16) or WiFi service provider. In this regard, the wirelesswide area network 110 provides access to the Internet 116 for the WiFienabled communication devices 111. For example, the wireless wide areanetwork 110 provides access to the services and/or data on the Internet116 for each of the tablet 111 a, the Smartphone 111 b and the laptop111 c.

The Internet 116 may comprise suitable devices and/or interfaces thatmay comprise a plurality of servers, which store and serve various dataand hosts various Internet services. The ISP 108 may be utilized by theWiFi enabled communication devices 107 to access the Internet servicesand/or data via the WLAN 106. The WWAN 110 may be utilized by the WiFienabled communication devices 111 to access the Internet services and/ordata. The Internet 116 is also accessible to the WiFi enabledcommunication devices 113 via the WiFi hotspot 112 and the WWAN 110.Similarly, Internet 116 is also accessible to the WiFi enabledcommunication devices 115 via the WiFi hotspot 114 and the WWAN 110.

In operation, each of the WiFi enabled communication devices 107, 111,113 and 115 and the WiFi enabled broadband access point or router 106 aare operable to utilize a single WiFi radio to capture WiFi signals overa wide spectrum comprising a plurality of WiFi frequency bands. Insteadof having different radios to handle the different WiFi frequency bands,each of the WiFi enabled communication devices 107, 111, 113 and 115 andWiFi enabled broadband router 106 a are operable to utilize a singlefull spectrum capture receiver that is operable to capture a very largebandwidth comprising the different WiFi frequency bands. In accordancewith various embodiments of the invention, the different WiFi frequencybands may be contiguous WiFi frequency bands or non-contiguous WiFifrequency bands. For example, the WiFi signals may occupy a 2.4 GHz bandranging from approximately 2.4-2.9 GHz and a 5 GHz band ranging fromapproximately 4.9-5.9 GHz. Accordingly, although the WiFi frequencybands are non-contiguous, the single WiFi receiver is utilized tocapture the WiFi signals from the corresponding WiFi frequency bands.

FIG. 1B is a high-level block diagram of an exemplary full spectrumcapture transceiver device, in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention. Referring to FIG. 1B, there is shown a full spectrum capturetransceiver device 140. The full spectrum capture transceiver device 140comprises a plurality of antennas 124 a, . . . , 124 n, a basebandprocessor 142, a full spectrum capture receiver and transmitter frontend 144 and an antenna interface 146. The full spectrum capture receiverand transmitter front end 144 comprises a full spectrum capture receiverfront end 144 a and a transmitter front end 144 b.

The plurality of antennas 124 a, . . . , 124 n may comprise a pluralityof antennas that are utilized to capture a plurality of wireless signalsover a wide portion of the spectrum that is allocated for WiFi. Theresulting captured plurality of wireless signals are communicated viathe antenna interface 146 to the full spectrum capture receiver andtransmitter front end 144 for processing. In accordance with anembodiment of the invention, the plurality of antennas 124 a, . . . ,124 n may comprise a diversity antenna system, such as, for example,plurality of phased array antennas. U.S. application Ser. No.13/857,776, which was filed on Apr. 5, 2013, discloses a plurality ofphased array antennas and is hereby incorporated herein by reference inits entirety.

The antenna interface 146 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that may be operable to control and/or configureoperation of the plurality of antennas 124 a, . . . , 124 n.

The full spectrum capture receiver front end 144 a may comprise suitablelogic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operable to receiveand process WiFi signals utilizing full spectrum capture. In thisregard, the full spectrum capture receiver front end 144 a may beoperable to capture signals over a wide spectrum comprising a pluralityof WiFi frequency bands and extract WiFi signals for one or more WiFichannels from the captured signals. The full spectrum capture receiverfront end 144 a may be operable to capture signals over the 2.4 GHz andthe 5 GHz WiFi frequency bands and extract one or more WiFi channels.

The transmitter front end 144 b may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that may be operable to transmit WiFi signals inaccordance with the one or more WLAN protocols. The transmitter frontend 144 b may be operable to synthesize signals over a wide spectrumcomprising one or more WiFi freq. bands.

The baseband processor 142 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that may be operable to provide basebandprocessing of the WiFi signals that are demodulated by the full spectrumcapture receiver front end 144 a. The baseband processor 142 may also beoperable to process information for transmission. The processedinformation may be communicated to the transmitter front end, where itis modulated and transmitted via the one or more the plurality ofantennas 124 a, . . . , 124 n. The baseband processor 142 may also beoperable to control operation of the full spectrum capture transceiverdevice 140. In this regard the baseband processor 142 may be operable tocontrol operation of the plurality of antennas 124 a, . . . , 124 n, theantenna interface 146, and the full spectrum capture receiver front end144 a and a transmitter front end 144 b, which includes the fullspectrum capture receiver front end 144 a and the transmitter front end144 b. The baseband processor may be operable to process digitized datafor each of the N WiFi channels, which may be handled by the fullspectrum capture receiver and transmitter front end 144.

In operation, the antenna interface 146 may be operable to controland/or configure operation of the plurality of antennas 124 a, . . . ,124 n for capturing the signals over a wide spectrum comprising aplurality of WiFi frequency bands.

The full spectrum capture receiver front end 144 a may comprise suitablelogic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operable to receiveand process WiFi signals utilizing full spectrum capture. In thisregard, the full spectrum capture receiver front end 144 a may beoperable to capture signals over a wide spectrum comprising a pluralityof WiFi frequency bands and extract WIFI signals for one or more WiFichannels from the captured signals. The full spectrum capture receiverfront end 144 a may be operable to concurrently capture WiFi signalsover the 2.4 GHz and the 5 GHz WiFi frequency bands and extract one ormore WiFi channels from the corresponding captured WiFi signals.

The full spectrum capture transceiver device 140 may be operable toaggregate or bond a plurality of WiFi channels in order to produce ahigh data rate WiFi channel. In various embodiment of the invention, asingle frequency may be assigned or allocated to each WiFi enabledcommunication device. In this regard, a single FSC WiFi access point(AP) may appear as if it were multiple WiFi access points. The clientdevice, namely, the WiFi enabled communication device, does not need tobe modified to benefit from this increased capacity. There may beinstances when both the client device and the AP are FSC enabled and areoperable to bond a plurality of channels and transmit on the bondedchannels. In this regard, transmission may occur in a duty cycle modeutilizing burst mode and sleep mode to optimize power consumption. TheFSC WiFi devices may transmit bursts then go to sleep between bursts.

In an exemplary embodiment, a WiFi enabled communication device that isa client device, needs to know the transmit pattern/times of the WiFiAP. The client device is operable to notify the AP that it has data totransmit. The notification may occur in an acknowledgement (ACK) packet.The AP and the client device may be operable to agree on a transmitschedule. In this regard, the AP and client device, namely the WiFienabled communication device, may agree on when the beacon frames willoccur since the beacon frames are utilized for timing. In addition (oralternatively), the AP may transmit beacons at periodic times known tothe client device, and the client device synchronizes to receive eachbeacon frame or some subset of beacon frames (every other, every third,etc.). Alternatively, a beaconless embodiment may be employed. In anyevent, the AP and client device may operate in accordance with one ormore essential or non-essential sections or aspects of the IEEE 802.11standard.

Aspects of full spectrum capture may be found in U.S. application Ser.No. 13/485,003 filed May 31, 2012, U.S. application Ser. No. 13/336,451filed on Dec. 23, 2011 and U.S. application Ser. No. 13/607,916 filedSep. 10, 2012. Each of these applications is hereby incorporated hereinby reference in its entirety.

U.S. application Ser. No. 13/356,265, which was filed on Jan. 23, 2012disclosures operation of an exemplary full spectrum receiver and ishereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIG. 1C is a diagram of an exemplary full spectrum capture Access pointand/or router that is operable to concurrently handle WiFi signals froma plurality of WiFi frequency bands, in accordance with an embodiment ofthe invention. Referring to FIG. 1C, there is shown a full spectrumcapture access point (AP) or router 150. The full spectrum captureAccess point and/or router 150 may comprise a full spectrum capturetransceiver module 154, a baseband processor module 160, a supervisormodule 162 and a routing module 170. The full spectrum capturetransceiver module 154 may comprise a full spectrum capture I/Q RFreceive (Rx) chain module 156, an I/Q RF transmit (Tx) chain module 157and a channelizer module 158. The baseband processor module 160 maycomprise a plurality of baseband processors 160-1, . . . , 160-N. Thesupervisor module 162 may comprise a per user spectral map module 164, aQoS configuration per user module 166, and a processor synchronizationmodule 168. The full spectrum capture Access point and/or router alsocomprises a plurality of antennas 152 a, . . . , 152 n.

The full spectrum capture I/Q RF receive (Rx) chain module 156 is partof the full spectrum capture transceiver module 154 and may comprisesuitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operableto capture signals over a wide spectrum comprising a plurality of WiFifrequency bands and demodulate them. In this regard, the full spectrumcapture I/Q RF receive (Rx) chain module 156 may comprise a plurality ofreceive processing chains that may be operable to demodulate differentportions of the signals in the captured WiFi frequency bands. Thecaptured spectrum may comprise WiFi signals and non-WiFi signals. Thefull spectrum capture I/Q RF receive (Rx) chain module 156 may beoperable to discriminate between the WiFi signals and non-WiFi signalsand accordingly, filter out the unwanted or undesirable non-WiFisignals. The resulting filtered signals may be digitized and channelizedinto a corresponding plurality of frequency bins.

The I/Q RF transmit (Tx) chain module 157 may be part of the fullspectrum capture transceiver module 154 and may comprise suitable logic,circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operable to handlemodulation of signals that are to be transmitted.

The channelizer module 158 is part of the full spectrum capturetransceiver module 154 and may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that may be operable to handle the channelizationof signals for a plurality of each of the processing chains in the fullspectrum capture transceiver module 154. In this regard, duringreception, the channelizer module 158 may be operable to channelizedigitized data from each of the corresponding plurality of full spectrumcapture I/Q RF receive (Rx) chains in the full spectrum capture I/Q RFreceive (Rx) chain module 156 into a plurality of frequency bins. Duringtransmission, the channelizer module 158 may be operable to channelizedigital data for transmission into a plurality of frequency bins foreach of the corresponding I/Q RF transmit (Tx) chains in the I/Q RFtransmit (Tx) chain module 157.

The baseband processor module 160 may comprise suitable logic,circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operable to process thedemodulated baseband WiFi signals that generated from the full spectrumcapture I/Q RF receive (Rx) chain module 156. The baseband processor 160may also be operable to process information for transmission. In thisregard, the processed information may be communicated to the fullspectrum capture I/Q RF receive (Rx) chain module 156, where it ismodulated and transmitted via one or more of the plurality of antennas152 a, . . . , 152 n. The baseband processor 160 may also be operable tomanage and control operation of the full spectrum capture Access pointand/or router 150. In this regard the baseband processor 160 may beoperable to manage and control operation of the plurality of antennas152 a, . . . , 152 n, full spectrum capture transceiver module 154including the full spectrum capture I/Q RF receive (Rx) chain module156, the I/Q RF transmit (Tx) chain module 157 and the channelizermodule 158, the supervisor module 162 and the routing module 170. Thebaseband processor 160 may be operable to handle the processing ofdigitized data for each of the N WiFi channels that may be handled bythe full spectrum capture transceiver module 154. The baseband processor160 may be substantially similar to the baseband processor 142 asillustrated in FIG. 1B.

The supervisor module 162 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that may be operable to manage the operation ofthe full spectrum capture Access point and/or router 150 on a per userbasis. For example, the supervisor module 162 may be operable to handlethe routing and QoS for packets for particular users.

The per user spectral map module 164 is part of the supervisor module162 and may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/or codethat may be operable to create a spectral map comprising the quality ofvarious WiFi channels over the different WiFi frequency bands.

The quality of service (QoS) configuration per user module 166 is partof the supervisor module 162 and may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that may be operable to control the quality ofservice that may be provided to each user.

The processor synchronization module 168 is part of the supervisormodule 162 and may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/orcode that may be operable to handle synchronization of sample rate andsymbol timing across various WiFi channels and/or WiFi frequency bandsthat are utilized for communicating information by one or more users orWiFi enabled user devices. Since a common oscillator may be utilized tohandle the different WiFi channels and the different WiFi frequencybands, this may simplify the task of dealing with a plurality ofdifferent sample rates, frequency offsets and other timing information.The processor synchronization module 168 may be operable to storefrequency and/or timing offset information for a plurality of WiFienabled user devices and utilize the stored frequency and/or timingoffset information to synchronize the WiFi enabled user devices. Theprocessor synchronization module 168 may be operable to handle thetiming for a plurality of WiFi channels that may be aggregated toprovide a desired bandwidth for communicating data.

The routing module 170 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that may be operable to handle the routing ofingress and egress packets that are handled by the full spectrum captureAccess point and/or router 150.

In operation, the full spectrum capture Access point and/or router 150may be operable to capture WiFi signals over a very large bandwidth andflexibly reconfigure the captured bandwidth in order to achieve adesired bandwidth. In this regard, the full spectrum capture Accesspoint and/or router 150 is operable to capture a plurality of WiFichannels and flexibly aggregate the channel to provide a desiredbandwidth. The spectrum resulting from the aggregated channels may bereferred to as a virtual spectrum. One or more resulting aggregated WiFichannels may be referred to as high bandwidth WiFi channels. The fullspectrum capture Access point and/or router 150 is operable to captureand aggregate contiguous and non-contiguous blocks of spectrum within asingle WiFi frequency band and/or contiguous and non-contiguous blocksof spectrum within a plurality of WiFi frequency bands. For example, thefull spectrum capture Access point and/or router 150 may be operable tocapture and aggregate contiguous and non-contiguous blocks of spectrumwithin the 2.4 GHz band, contiguous and non-contiguous blocks ofspectrum within the 5 GHz band or contiguous and non-contiguous blocksof spectrum within the 2.4 GHz band and also within the 5 GHz band. Theresulting aggregated spectrum may appear as if it were a contiguousblock of spectrum. The aggregated spectrum may be assigned to one ormore users or user devices. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention,an aggregated block of WiFi spectrum may be shared among the mobilecommunication devices 107. In instances where the tablet 107 a mayrequire more bandwidth than the Smartphone 107 b and the laptop 107 cmay not require any bandwidth, the WiFi enabled broadband router 106 amay be operable to proportionately allocate the bandwidth for theaggregated block of WiFi spectrum between the tablet 107 a and theSmartphone 107 b.

In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, based on the numberof channels that are being utilized to capture and aggregate the blocksof spectrum in the WiFi frequency band, various components in the fullspectrum capture Access point and/or router 150 may operate in a dutycycle mode. For example, a portion of the I/Q RF receive (Rx) chains inthe full spectrum capture I/Q RF receive (Rx) chain module 156,corresponding channelizers in the channelizer module 158 as well ascorresponding baseband processors 160-1, . . . , 160-N in the basebandprocessor module 160 may be power cycled on when they are needed andpower cycled off when they are not needed. The cycling of the power onand off to handle communication of data whenever needed may be referredto as time division power management.

In another embodiment of the invention, a portion of the I/Q RF receive(Rx) chains in the full spectrum capture I/Q RF receive (Rx) chainmodule 156, corresponding channelizers in the channelizer module 158 aswell as corresponding baseband processors 160-1, . . . , 160-N in thebaseband processor module 160 may be designated as broadcast lanes tohandle broadcast traffic. The remaining portion of the I/Q RF receive(Rx) chains in the full spectrum capture I/Q RF receive (Rx) chainmodule 156, corresponding channelizers in the channelizer module 158 aswell as corresponding baseband processors 160-1, . . . , 160-N in thebaseband processor module 160 may be designated as common lanes. Basedon the type of traffic, the lanes may be duty cycled on or off to handlethe transfer of data.

In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the broadcast lanesmay be utilized for burst communication of traffic. The full spectrumcapture Access point and/or router 150 may be operable to wakeup from asleep mode and burst a large amount of data over one or more broadcastlanes. At the end of the data burst, the full spectrum capture Accesspoint and/or router 150 may be operable to enter a sleep mode. Duringsleep mode, the full spectrum capture Access point and/or router 150 maybe operable to monitor one or more common lanes. The common lanes may beutilized for management and control functions as well as communicatingsmaller amounts of data traffic. During sleep mode, the broadcast lanesmay be shut down to save power.

FIG. 1D is a high-level block diagram of an exemplary FSC WiFiintegrated circuit comprising FSC WiFi RF front end transceivercircuitry and baseband processing circuitry, in accordance with anembodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 1D, there is shown anintegrated circuit package 172, a FSC WiFi integrated circuit 173,baseband processor circuitry 174 and FSC WiFi RF front end transceiver(Tx/Rx) circuitry 175. The arrangement of FIG. 1D may be referred to asa single chip solution.

The baseband processor circuitry 174 and the FSC WiFi RF front endtransceiver circuitry 175 may be integrated on the single FSC WiFiintegrated circuit 173. The single FSC WiFi integrated circuit 173 maybe packaged within the integrated circuit package 172.

FIG. 1E is a high-level block diagram of an exemplary FSC WiFi RF frontend transceiver integrated circuit and a baseband processing integratedpackaged on a single integrated circuit package, in accordance with anembodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 1E, there is shown anintegrated circuit package 176, a baseband processor integrated circuit177 and a FSC WiFi RF front end transceiver (Tx/Rx) integrated circuit177.

The baseband processor integrated circuit 177 and the FSC WiFi RF frontend transceiver (Tx/Rx) integrated circuit 177 may be packaged withinthe single integrated circuit package 176. The arrangement of FIG. 1Emay be referred to as a dual chip solution.

FIG. 1F is a high-level block diagram of an exemplary FSC WiFi RF frontend transceiver integrated circuit and a baseband processing integratedcircuit packaged on separate integrated circuit packages, in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 1F, there isshown an integrated circuit package 179, a baseband processor integratedcircuit 180, and integrated circuit package 181 and a FSC WiFi RF frontend transceiver (Tx/Rx) integrated circuit 181.

The baseband processor integrated circuit 180 may be packaged on theintegrated circuit package 179. The FSC WiFi RF front end transceiver(Tx/Rx) integrated circuit 182 may be packaged within the integratedcircuit package 181. The arrangement of FIG. 1F may be referred to as adual chip solution or separate chips solution.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an exemplary diversity WiFi receiver thatutilizes full spectrum capture, in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention. Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown a diversity WiFi receiver200. The diversity WiFi receiver 200 may comprise antennas 202 a, . . ., 202 n, antenna interface 204, variable gain amplifiers 205 a, 205 b,multiplexers 206 a, 206 b, I/Q RF receive processing chain modules 208a, 208 b, local oscillator generator (LOGEN) 209, channelizers 210 a,210 b, maximum ratio combiner 212 and a baseband processor 214. Thevariable gain amplifier 205 a, the multiplexer 206 a, the I/Q RF receiveprocessing chain module 208 a, and the channelizer 210 a may be operableto handle the processing of signals received via the antennas 202 a, . .. , 202 n. The variable gain amplifier 205 b, the multiplexer 206 b, theI/Q RF receive processing chain module 208 b, and the channelizer 210 bmay be operable to handle the processing of signals received via theantenna 202 b.

The antennas 202 a, . . . , 202 n may comprise suitable logic, circuitryand/or interfaces that are operable to receive WiFi signals. Thecharacteristics of the antennas 202 (e.g., coil) may be such that theymay perform filtering functions and, in those instances, transmit and/orreceive filters may not be needed.

The antenna interface 204 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that may be operable to interface with theantennas 202 a, . . . , 202 n with the corresponding processing paths inthe diversity WiFi receiver 200.

The variable gain amplifiers 205 a, 205 b may comprise suitable logic,circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operable to variablyadjust a corresponding gain of the input signal from antenna interface204. For example, the variable gain amplifiers 205 a may be operable toamplify and/or buffer the signal received via the antennas 202 a, . . ., 202 n from the antenna interface 204. The variable gain amplifiers 205a, 205 b may operate in different modes that enable capturing ofdifferent size bandwidths. For example, the variable gain amplifiers 205a, 205 b may be configured to capture narrowband signals or broadbandsignals.

The multiplexers 206 a, 206 b may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that may be operable to select from among aplurality of n processing RF receive (RX) chains in the I/Q RF receiveprocessing chain modules 208 a, 208 b, respectively, where n is aninteger. For example, the multiplexers 206 a may be operable to selectwhich of the plurality of n processing RF receive (RX) chains within theI/Q RF receive processing chain modules 208 a are to be utilized fordemodulation of the signal output from the multiplexer 206 a. Similarly,the multiplexers 206 b may be operable to select which of the pluralityof n processing RF receive (RX) chains within the I/Q RF receiveprocessing chain modules 208 b are to be utilized for demodulation ofthe signal output from the multiplexer 206 b. The baseband processor 214may be operable to control which of the plurality of n processing RFreceive (RX) chains in the n I/Q RF receive processing chain modules 208a, 208 b may be selected.

The I/Q RF receive processing chain modules 208 a, 208 b may comprisesuitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operableto demodulate the signals that are output from the multiplexer 206 a,206 b, respectively. Each of the I/Q RF receive processing chain modules208 a, 208 b may comprise a plurality of n I/Q RF receive processingchains. The baseband processor 214 may be operable to select which ofthe I/Q RF receive processing chain modules 208 a, 208 b are to beutilized to demodulate the signals that are output from the multiplexers206 a, 206 b. For example, the I/Q RF receive processing chain module208 a may be utilized to demodulate the signals that are output from themultiplexer 206 a, while the I/Q RF receive processing chain module 208b may be utilized to demodulate the signals that are output from themultiplexer 206 b.

The LOGEN 209 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/orcode that may be operable to drive one or more oscillators within theI/Q RF receive processing chain modules 208 a, 208 b. The LO generator209 may comprise, for example, one or more crystals, one or more directdigital synthesizers, and/or one or more phase-locked loops.

The channelizers 210 a, 210 b may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that may be operable to channelize thedemodulated signals that are output from the n I/Q RF receive processingchain 208 a, 208 b, respectively. The channelizers 210 a, 210 b may beoperable to separate each of the corresponding channels into a pluralityof frequency bins. The output of the channelizers 210 a, 210 b may becombined by a combiner. In accordance with an embodiment of theinvention, the channelization may be achieved via one or more digitalfiltering algorithms and/or other digital signal processing algorithms.Each of the channelizers 210 a, 210 b may comprise a plurality of bandselection filters that are operable to process the corresponding outputfrom the plurality of n processing RF receive (RX) chains in the n I/QRF receive processing chain modules 208 a, 208 b in order to recover acorresponding one of the a plurality of selected frequency bands orfrequency bins. The granularity of the channelizers 210 a, 210 b may beprogrammable. In this regard, the channelizers 210 a, 210 b may beprogrammed to handle channels of varying bandwidth. For example, thechannelizers 210 a, 210 b may be programmed to handle 20 MHz and/or 40MHz channels.

The maximum ratio combiner 212 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that may be operable to combine the channels thatare output from the channelizers 210 a, 210 b. For example, maximumratio combiner 212 may be operable to utilize, for example, a coarse FFTprocessing that employs a low complexity diversity using coarse FFT andsubband-wise combining. The coarse FFT processing may optimally combinethe signals from a plurality of frequency bins for multiple antennas andaccordingly, generate an improved maximum ratio combined (MRC) co-phasedsignals.

U.S. Pat. No. 8,010,070, (application Ser. No. 12/247,908), which issuedon Aug. 30, 2011, discloses exemplary Low-Complexity Diversity UsingCoarse FFT and Coarse Sub-band-wise Combining, and is herebyincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

The maximum ratio combiner 212 may also be operable to utilize channelstacking and/or band stacking of the plurality of frequency bins. Inthis regard, in one embodiment of the invention, a plurality of WiFifrequency bands or WiFi frequency sub-bands may be stacked utilizingband stacking. In another embodiment of the invention, a plurality ofWiFi channels in one or more WiFi frequency bands may be stackedutilizing channel stacking. For example, a plurality of WiFi channels inthe 2.4 GHz WiFi band and/or in the 5 GHz WiFi frequency band may bestacked utilizing channel stacking. In other embodiments of theinvention, a hybrid or flexible stacking scheme may also be utilized.Additional details regarding stacking may be found in U.S. applicationSer. No. 13/762,939, filed on Feb. 8, 2013, which is hereby incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety.

The baseband processor 214 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that may be operable to provide basebandprocessing on the channels that are generated from the maximum ratiocombiner 212. The baseband processor 214 may also be operable tofunction as a controller for the diversity WiFi receiver 200. In thisregard, the baseband processor 214 may be operable to control, configureand/or manage operation of one or more of the antenna interface 204, thevariable gain amplifiers 205 a, 205 b, the multiplexers 206 a, 206 b,the I/Q RF receive processing chain modules 208 a, 208 b, the localoscillator generator (LOGEN) 209, the channelizers 210 a, 210 b, and themaximum ratio combiner 212. The baseband processor 214 may be operableto control, configure and/or manage operation of one or more of thecomponents in the I/Q RF receive processing chain modules 208 a, 208 bsuch as mixers, filters and/or analog to digital controllers (ADCs).

Although the maximum ratio combiner 212 and the baseband processor 214are illustrated as separate entities, the maximum ratio combiner 212 maybe integrated as part of the baseband processor 214.

Although only two antennas 202 a, . . . , 202 n are shown for diversity,the invention is not limited in this regard. Accordingly, more than twoantennas may be utilized without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention. The addition of more than two antennas utilizesadditional processing paths in the diversity WiFi receiver 200.

Although a diversity WiFi receiver is illustrated, the invention is notlimited to the use of the diversity WiFi receiver. Accordingly, variousembodiments of the invention may utilize a non-diversity receiverwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the various embodimentsof the invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary I/Q RF receive processingchain module of a diversity WiFi receiver that utilizes full spectrumcapture, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring toFIG. 3, there is shown an I/Q RF receive processing chain module 300.The I/Q RF receive processing chain module 300 comprises a plurality ofn I/Q RF receive processing chains, where n is an integer. The pluralityof n I/Q RF receive processing chains are referenced as 306 ₁, 306 ₂, .. . , 306 _(n). Each of the n I/Q RF receive processing chains 306 ₁,306 ₂, . . . , 306 _(n) are substantially similar.

The I/Q RF receive processing chains 306 ₁ comprises an in-phase (I)path and a quadrature (Q) path. The in-phase path of the I/Q RF receiveprocessing chains 306 ₁ comprises a mixer 308 _(I), a filter 310 _(I),and an analog to digital converter (ADC) 312 _(I). The quadrature pathof the I/Q RF receive processing chains 306 ₁ comprises a mixer 308_(Q), a filter 310 _(Q), and an analog to digital converter (ADC) 312_(Q).

Each of the mixers 308 _(I), 308 _(Q) may comprise suitable logic,circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operable to mix thecorresponding signal 302 ₁ with a local oscillator signal (not shown) togenerate the signal 309 _(I), 309 _(Q), respectively. The mixers 308_(I), 308 _(Q) are operable to mix the signal 302 ₁ with a pair ofin-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) local oscillator signals, respectively,to generate the corresponding pair of in-phase and quadrature signals309 _(I), 309 _(Q).

In some embodiments of the invention, the mixers in each of the I/Q RFreceive processing chains may be operable to function with similarcharacteristics, and, in other embodiments of the invention, the mixersin each of the I/Q RF receive processing chains may be operable tofunction with different characteristics. For example, the mixers 308_(I), 308 _(Q) may be configured to operate with a higher bandwidth thanthe mixers (not shown), which may be within the I/Q RF receiveprocessing chain 306 ₂. Similarly, the mixers (not shown), which may bewithin the I/Q RF receive processing chain 306 ₂ may be configured tooperate with a higher bandwidth than the mixers (not shown), which maybe within the I/Q RF receive processing chain 306 _(n), and the mixers308 _(I), 308 _(Q), which may be within the I/Q RF receive processingchain 306 _(n).

The phase and/or frequency of the local oscillator signals (not shown),which are input to the mixers in each of the I/Q RF receive processingchains 306 ₁, 306 ₂, . . . , 306 _(n), may be controlled via one or moresignals from the baseband processor 214, which is illustrated in FIG. 2.In accordance with various embodiments of the invention, the phaseand/or frequency of the local oscillator signals, which are input to themixers in each of the I/Q RF receive processing chains 306 ₁, 306 ₂, . .. , 306 _(n), may be controlled by the baseband processor 214 based onwhich one or more WiFi channels and/or WiFi frequency bands are to becaptured by the diversity WiFi receiver 200. The phase and/or frequencyof the local oscillator signals, which are input to the mixers in eachof the I/Q RF receive processing chains 306 ₁, 306 ₂, . . . , 306 _(n),may be generated from the LOGEN 209, which is illustrated in FIG. 2.

The filters in each of the I/Q RF receive processing chains 306 ₁, 306₂, . . . , 306 _(n) may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfacesand/or code that may be operable to filter out undesiredfrequencies/channels from the corresponding signals that are output fromthe oscillators in each of the I/Q RF receive processing chains 306 ₁,306 ₂, . . . , 306 _(n). For example, each of the filters 310 _(I), 310_(Q) in the I/Q RF receive processing chains 306 ₁ may be operable tofilter out undesired frequencies from the signals 309 _(I), 309 _(Q) togenerate the corresponding analog signals 311 _(I), 311 _(Q).

In some embodiments of the invention, the filters in each of the I/Q RFreceive processing chains 306 ₁, 306 ₂, . . . , 306 _(n) may be operableto function with similar characteristics, and, in other embodiments ofthe invention, the filters in each of the I/Q RF receive processingchains 306 ₁, 306 ₂, . . . , 306 _(n) may be operable to function withdifferent characteristics. For example, the filters 310 _(I), 310 _(Q),which are within the I/Q RF receive processing chains 306 ₁, may beconfigured to operate with a higher bandwidth than the filters (notshown), which may be within the I/Q RF receive processing chain 306 ₂.Similarly, the filters (not shown), which may be within the I/Q RFreceive processing chain 306 ₂ may be configured to operate with ahigher bandwidth than the mixers (not shown), which may be within theI/Q RF receive processing chain 306 _(n), and the mixers 310 _(I), 310_(Q), which may be within the I/Q RF receive processing chain 306 _(n).

The ADCs in each of the I/Q RF receive processing chains 306 ₁, 306 ₂, .. . , 306 _(n) may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/orcode that may be operable to convert the analog signals from thecorresponding signals that are output from the filters in each of theI/Q RF receive processing chains 306 ₁, 306 ₂, . . . , 306 _(n). Forexample, each of the ADC 312 _(I), 312 _(Q) in the I/Q RF receiveprocessing chains 306 ₁ may be operable to convert the analog signals311 _(I), 311 _(Q) to the corresponding digital signals 313 _(I), 313_(Q). The ADCs may be preceded by a frequency conversion step andfiltering to shift a higher frequency band to a lower frequency orbaseband, where it is easier to design wideband data converters.

In some embodiments of the invention, the ADCs in each of the I/Q RFreceive processing chains 306 ₁, 306 ₂, . . . , 306 _(n) may be operableto function with similar characteristics, and, in other embodiments ofthe invention, the ADCs in each of the I/Q RF receive processing chains306 ₁, 306 ₂, . . . , 306 _(n) may be operable to function withdifferent characteristics. For example, the ADCs 312 _(I), 312 _(Q),which are within the I/Q RF receive processing chains 306 ₁, may beconfigured to operate with a higher bandwidth than the ADCs (not shown),which may be within the I/Q RF receive processing chain 306 ₂.Similarly, the ADCs (not shown), which may be within the I/Q RF receiveprocessing chain 306 ₂ may be configured to operate with a higherbandwidth than the ADCs (not shown), which may be within the I/Q RFreceive processing chain 306 _(n), and the ADC 310 _(I), 310 _(Q), whichmay be within the I/Q RF receive processing chain 306 _(n).

In operation, the diversity WiFi receiver 200 may be configured tocapture a specified number of WiFi channels. In this regard, thebaseband processor 214 may be operable to configure the multiplexer thatfeeds the I/Q RF receive processing chains 306 ₁, 306 ₂, . . . , 306_(n) to select and enable a corresponding number of the I/Q RF receiveprocessing chains 306 ₁, 306 ₂, . . . , 306 _(n), which are to beutilized to handle reception and demodulation of the specified number ofWiFi channels. In some embodiments of the invention, only those I/Q RFreceive processing chains 306 ₁, 306 ₂, . . . , 306 _(n) which areselected by the processor are powered and any remaining ones of the I/QRF receive processing chains 306 ₁, 306 ₂, . . . , 306 _(n) that are notselected are powered down.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary baseband processor, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 4,there is shown a baseband processor 400. The baseband processor 400 maycomprise a MRC module 402, a beamforming module 406, a MIMO module 408,a demodulator module 410, a decoder 412, a beamforming module 416, aMIMO module 418, a modulator module 420, a encoder 422, a processor 424and memory 426. The baseband processor 400 may be substantially similarto the baseband processor 200, which is illustrated and described withrespect to FIG. 2. The MRC module 402, the beamforming module 406, theMIMO module 408, the demodulator module 410 and the decoder 412 maycomprise a demodulation path 413. The beamforming module 416, the MIMOmodule 418, the modulator module 420, the encoder 422 may comprise amodulation path 423.

The MRC module 402 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfacesand/or code that may be operable to channels that are output from thechannelizers 210 a, 210 b. For example, maximum ratio combiner 212 maybe operable to utilize, for example, a coarse FFT processing thatemploys a low complexity diversity using coarse FFT and subband-wisecombining. The coarse FFT processing may optimally combine the signalsfrom a plurality of frequency bins for multiple antennas andaccordingly, generate an improved maximum ratio combined (MRC) co-phasedsignals. The maximum ratio combiner 402 may also be operable to utilizechannel stacking and/or band stacking for the plurality of frequencybins.

The beamforming module 406 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that may be operable to utilize one or morebeamforming algorithms to process signals from the plurality of antennas202 a, . . . , 202 n.

The MIMO module 408 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfacesand/or code that may be operable to utilize one or more MIMO algorithms(e.g., as defined or supported by 802.11n or 802.11ac) to processsignals from the beamforming module 406 for plurality of antennas 202 a,. . . , 202 n.

The demodulator module 410 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that may be operable to demodulate the signalsfrom the MIMO module 408.

The decoder 412 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfacesand/or code that may be operable to decode the resulting demodulatedsignals from the demodulator module 410.

The encoder 422 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfacesand/or code that may be operable to encode data to be transmittedutilizing one or more encoding algorithms.

The modulator module 420 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that may be operable to may be utilized tomodulate the resulting encoded output from the encoder 422.

The MIMO module 418 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfacesand/or code that may be operable to utilize one or more MIMO algorithmsto process signals for transmission via the plurality of antennas 202 a,. . . , 202 n.

The beamforming module 416 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that may be operable to utilize one or morebeamforming algorithms to process signals from the MIMO module 418 fortransmission via the plurality of antennas 202 a, . . . , 202 n.

The processor 424 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfacesand/or code that may be operable to control operation of the FSC WiFireceiver 200. In this regard, the processor 424 may be operable tocontrol the components within the FSC receiver module and the basebandprocessor.

The memory 426 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/orcode that may be operable to store operating code, operating data andconfiguration settings. The memory 426 may be operable to storeinformation that may be utilized to control operation of one or more ofthe components in the FSC receiver module and the baseband processor ofthe FSC WiFi receiver.

In operation, the signals received by the full spectrum capturetransceiver 140 are channelized and the MIMO module 408 is operable tosynthesize MIMO channels from all the captured WiFi channels. Thearchitecture of the full spectrum capture transceiver 140 enables, forexample, one of the WiFi channels to be pulled out and all of thebandwidth for those particular WiFi channels may be assigned to aparticular WiFi enabled communication device. In other words, ininstances where there are a plurality of WiFi enabled communicationdevices, the full spectrum capture transceiver 140 may be operable toassign each of the plurality of WiFi enabled communication devices itsown dedicated WiFi channel. In this regard, there is no need for aplurality of WiFi enabled communication devices to share a particularWiFi AP channel. The number of WiFi enabled communication devices towhich the channels may be assigned may be dependent on or limited by thenumber of demodulators that are available, for example, in the fullspectrum capture transceiver 140.

In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, based on thearchitecture of the full spectrum capture transceiver 140, in order todouble the capacity, twice the number of channels may be channelized bythe full spectrum capture transceiver 140 and assigned to the clientWiFi enabled communication devices. Accordingly, there is no need tomodify the architecture of the client WiFi enabled communicationdevices. In other words, only the access point/router needs to bemodified. The full spectrum capture transceiver 140 provides a flexibleand scalable architecture to increase capacity without having to modifythe WiFi enabled communication devices or having to add complexity tothe Access point and/or router.

In accordance with various embodiments of the invention, certain trafficmay be assigned to certain channels based on various criteria. Forexample, a user of a client WiFi enabled communication device that issurfing the Web may be assigned to one channel, and another user of aclient WiFi enabled communication device that may be a watching HD videocontent may be assigned to another channel, and so on. Differentbandwidth channels may be assigned to different client WiFi enabledcommunication devices based on bandwidth requirements. In conventionalWiFi APs, in order for a user to get dedicated WiFi channels, that userwould have to upgrade the AP to an 802.11ac compliant WiFi AP. However,the full spectrum capture transceiver 140 is operable to providededicated channel usage and channels may be assigned based on the typeof traffic or class of traffic that is being handled. In effect, thefull spectrum capture transceiver 140 is operable to provide 802.11accapabilities without the need to actually utilize an 802.11accommunication device. The full spectrum capture transceiver 140 allowsadaptive and dynamic sensing of the channels to determine which ones arebeing utilized or are unusable or impaired due to fading, interferenceor noise, and those channels can be avoided or marked as bad. Thosechannels that are usable or are not impaired and may therefore beselected and allocated for use. Accordingly, the full spectrum capturetransceiver 140 may be referred to as a WiFi Turbocharger.

One major advantage of utilizing full spectrum capture with WiFi is thatonly the APs need to be upgraded and not the client WiFi enabledcommunication mobile devices. This is a win situation for consumers inthat they do not need to upgrade their WiFi enabled laptops or otherclient WiFi enabled communication devices to take full advantage of thevarious features and functions provided by FSC with WiFi. Accordingly,network providers may upgrade the network infrastructure without havingto worry about end-users upgrading their WiFi enabled communicationdevices.

The use of multiple WiFi channels by the full spectrum capturetransceiver 140 may provide power savings. Duty cycling across aplurality of WiFi channels may provide power savings as opposed tosending a significant amount of data across a single WiFi channel. Thefull spectrum capture transceiver 140 may be operable to transmit datain a burst mode, after which, the full spectrum capture transceiver 140goes to sleep. The sleep and wake modes may be dependent on, forexample, WiFi beacon timing. The WiFi enabled communication devices mayburst data, for example, in a round-robin time division manner across aplurality of WiFi channels assigned by the full spectrum capturetransceiver 140. The full spectrum capture transceiver 140 may configureand assign multiple channels and the WiFi enabled communication devicesmay be operable to burst data across the assigned WiFi channels in asynchronous manner. The WiFi receivers may be shut down or enter a lowpower mode in instances when the WiFi transmitter is not bursting dataor when the WiFi receivers may be consuming content that was previouslyreceived in a burst. In one example, a WiFi enabled communicationdevice's transceiver circuit may enter a low power mode when it is notcommunicating video and the device's transceiver circuit may enter asleep mode when it is consuming received content. In another example,the WiFi enabled communication device may receive 2 seconds worth ofvideo and send acknowledgements and then shut down the RF front-endcircuits in the FSC WiFi receiver when the FSC WiFi receiver isconsuming the 2 seconds worth of video. The full spectrum capture WiFiAP and/or router may be operable to store timing offset information foreach of the WiFi enabled communication devices in order to providemulti-channel synchronicity, which enables seamless switching betweenchannels.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating exemplary steps for receiving andprocessing WiFi signals utilizing a full spectrum capture WiFi device(e.g., access point), in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.Referring to FIG. 5, there is shown exemplary steps 502 through 510. Instep 502, an FSC WiFi access point is configured to capture spectrum inone or more WiFi frequency bands. In step 504, the FSC WIFI access pointcaptures the spectrum comprising a plurality of WiFi channels. In step506, the WiFi access point discriminates between the WiFi signals andnon-WiFi signals in the captured spectrum and discard non-WiFi signals.In step 508, the FSC WiFi access point is operable to aggregate aplurality of the WiFi channels, which correspond to the WiFi signals,and/or one or more other WiFi channels to generate an aggregated WiFichannel. In step 510, the FSC WiFi access point may be operable toassign one or more users to at least a portion of the aggregated WiFichannel.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating exemplary steps for receiving andprocessing WiFi signals utilizing a full spectrum capture WiFi device(e.g., access point), in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.Referring to FIG. 6, there is shown exemplary steps 604 through 612. Instep 604, a FSC WIFI access point captures the spectrum comprising aplurality of WiFi channels. In step 606, the WiFi access point filtersthe captured spectrum and keeps the WiFi signals and discards thenon-WiFi signals. In step 608, the FSC WiFi access point is operable toaggregate a plurality of the WiFi channels corresponding to the WiFisignals to generate plurality of aggregated WiFi channels. In step 610,the FSC WiFi access point may be operable to assign each of theplurality of aggregated WiFi channels as a dedicated WiFi channel to acorresponding one of a plurality of WiFi enabled communication devices.In step 612, FSC WiFi access point may be operable to Burst data to eachof the plurality of WiFi enabled communication devices over theircorresponding dedicated WiFi channel.

While the discussion with respect to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 specificallyreference an access point, the functionality described can be employedby any WiFi enabled communication device (such as, for example, a clientdevice providing WiFi connectivity to other client devices).

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating exemplary steps for receiving andprocessing WiFi signals utilizing a full spectrum capture WiFi accesspoint or router, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.Referring to FIG. 7, there is shown exemplary steps 702 through 714. Instep 702, the baseband processor configures the FSC WiFi receiver tocapture spectrum in or more WiFi frequency bands. In step 704, the FSCWiFi receiver captures spectrum comprising a plurality of WiFi channels.In step 706, FSC WiFi receiver filters captures spectrum and discardsnon-WiFi signals and keeps WiFi signals. In step 708, the basebandprocessor combines or bonds a plurality of the WiFi channelscorresponding to the WiFi signals to generate a plurality of aggregatedWiFi channels. In step 710, the baseband processor assigns each of aplurality of WiFi enabled communication devices to dedicated ones of theplurality of aggregated WiFi channels. In step 712, each of the WiFienabled communication devices is operable to communicate via itsassigned dedicated aggregated WiFi channel. In step 714, the routermodule handles routing of traffic for the WiFi enabled communicationdevices.

In accordance with various embodiments of the invention, a single FSCWiFi receiver 140 is operable to utilize full spectrum capture tocapture signals over a wide spectrum comprising a plurality of WiFifrequency bands, extract one or more WiFi channels from said capturedsignals and aggregate a plurality of blocks of said WiFi channels tocreate one or more aggregated WiFi channels. The WiFi frequency bandsmay comprise a 2.4 GHz WiFi frequency band and a 5 GHz WiFi frequencyband. The single FSC WiFi receiver 140 is operable to aggregate aplurality of blocks of the WiFi channels from contiguous blocks ofspectrum and/or non-contiguous blocks of spectrum in one or more of theplurality of WiFi frequency bands, for example, 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. Thesingle FSC WiFi receiver is operable to filter out one or more non-WiFichannels from the captured signals to leave only the WiFi channels. Thesingle FSC WiFi receiver is operable to assign one or more aggregatedWiFi channels to one or more WiFi enabled communication devices. Atleast a portion of the one or more aggregated WiFi channels may bedynamically assigned to one or more other WiFi enabled communicationdevices.

The single FSC WiFi receiver 140 is also operable to dynamically adjusta bandwidth of one or more processing lanes in order to handle channelsof varying bandwidth. The single FSC WiFi receiver 140 may also dutycycle operation of one or more processing lanes within the singlereceiver. A plurality of processing lanes within the single receiver maybe assigned as a broadcast lane for handling high bandwidth traffic. Oneor more processing lanes within the single FSC WiFi receiver 140 may beassigned as a common lane for handling low bandwidth traffic and/orcontrol traffic.

In accordance with various embodiments of the invention, a WiFi accesspoint or router 150 includes a receive radio frequency (RF) front end154 and a baseband processor 160 that controls operation of the receiveRF front end 154. The RF front end 154 captures signals over a widespectrum that includes a plurality of WiFi frequency bands (2.4 GHz and5 GHz) and channelizes one or more WiFi channels from the capturedsignals. The baseband processor 160 combines a plurality of blocks ofWiFi channels to create one or more aggregated WiFi channels. The blocksof WiFi channels may comprise the extracted one or more WiFi channelsand/or other WiFi channels. The receive RF front end 154 may beintegrated on a first integrated circuit 178 and the baseband processormay be integrated on a second integrated circuit 177. The first andsecond integrated circuits 178, 177 may be integrated on a singlepackage 176. The RF front end 154 and the baseband processor 160 may beintegrated on a single integrated circuit. 173

The WiFi access point comprises a routing module 170 that iscommunicatively coupled to the baseband processor 160. The basebandprocessor 160 may diversity process the channelized one or more WiFichannels and duty cycle communication traffic across a plurality of theaggregated WiFi channels. The baseband processor 160 may assign one ofthe aggregated WiFi channels as a dedicated channel for handling trafficfor a WiFi enabled communication device. The baseband processor 160 maydynamically reassign the assigned one of the aggregated WiFi channels asa dedicated channel for handling traffic for another WiFi enabledcommunication device. The WiFi access point comprises a transmit RFfront end that is operable to transmit signals over a wide spectrumcomprising said one or more WiFi frequency bands.

As utilized herein the terms “circuits” and “circuitry” refer tophysical electronic components (i.e. hardware) and any software and/orfirmware (“code”) which may configure the hardware, be executed by thehardware, and or otherwise be associated with the hardware. As usedherein, for example, a particular processor and memory may comprise afirst “circuit” when executing a first one or more lines of code and maycomprise a second “circuit” when executing a second one or more lines ofcode. As utilized herein, “and/or” means any one or more of the items inthe list joined by “and/or”. As an example, “x and/or y” means anyelement of the three-element set {(x), (y), (x, y)}. As another example,“x, y, and/or z” means any element of the seven-element set {(x), (y),(z), (x, y), (x, z), (y, z), (x, y, z)}. As utilized herein, the term“exemplary” means serving as a non-limiting example, instance, orillustration. As utilized herein, the terms “e.g.,” and “for example”set off lists of one or more non-limiting examples, instances, orillustrations. As utilized herein, circuitry is “operable” to perform afunction whenever the circuitry comprises the necessary hardware andcode (if any is necessary) to perform the function, regardless ofwhether performance of the function is disabled, or not enabled, by someuser-configurable setting.

Other embodiments of the invention may provide a computer readabledevice and/or a non-transitory computer readable medium, and/or amachine readable device and/or a non-transitory machine readable medium,having stored thereon, a machine code and/or a computer program havingat least one code section executable by a machine and/or a computer,thereby causing the machine and/or computer to perform the steps asdescribed herein for WiFi access point utilizing full spectrum capture.

Accordingly, the present invention may be realized in hardware,software, or a combination of hardware and software. The presentinvention may be realized in a centralized fashion in at least onecomputer system, or in a distributed fashion where different elementsare spread across several interconnected computer systems. Any kind ofcomputer system or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methodsdescribed herein is suited. A typical combination of hardware andsoftware may be a general-purpose computer system with a computerprogram that, when being loaded and executed, controls the computersystem such that it carries out the methods described herein.

The present invention may also be embedded in a computer programproduct, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation ofthe methods described herein, and which when loaded in a computer systemis able to carry out these methods. Computer program in the presentcontext means any expression, in any language, code or notation, of aset of instructions intended to cause a system having an informationprocessing capability to perform a particular function either directlyor after either or both of the following: a) conversion to anotherlanguage, code or notation; b) reproduction in a different materialform.

While the present invention has been described with reference to certainembodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatvarious changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention. In addition, manymodifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material tothe teachings of the present invention without departing from its scope.Therefore, it is intended that the present invention not be limited tothe particular embodiment disclosed, but that the present invention willinclude all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: an integrated circuit foruse in a wireless access point, the integrated circuit comprising a fullspectrum capture receiver and a processor, wherein: said full spectrumcapture receiver is operable to: concurrently capture and digitize arange of frequencies encompassing each of a first two or morediscontiguous channels assigned to a first user device, and a second twoor more discontiguous channels assigned to a second user device; andselect each of said first two or more discontiguous channels and saidsecond two or more discontiguous channels for output; said processor isoperable to: combine said selected first two or more discontiguouschannels from said full spectrum capture receiver to form a firstaggregate channel; demodulate said first aggregate channel to recoverdata from said first user device; combine said selected second two ormore discontiguous channels from said full spectrum capture receiver toform a second aggregate channel; and demodulate said second aggregatechannel to recover data from said second user device.
 2. The system ofclaim 1, wherein said processor is operable to generate a per-userspectral map that indicates, for each of said first user device and saidsecond user device, the quality of each channel in said range offrequencies.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein said processor isoperable to: detect one or more characteristics of said each channel insaid range of frequencies; and generate said per-user spectral map basedon said detected one or more characteristics.
 4. The system according toclaim 3, wherein said determined one or more characteristics comprisenoise, interference, fading and blocker information.
 5. The systemaccording to claim 3, wherein said determined one or morecharacteristics comprise noise, interference, fading and blockerinformation.
 6. The system of claim 2, comprising: detecting, by saidprocessor, one or more characteristics of said each channel in saidrange of frequencies; and generating, by said processor, said per-userspectral map based on said sensed one or more characteristics.
 7. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein said processor is operable to use saidper-user spectral map for assignment of said first two or morediscontiguous channels to said first user device and assignment of saidsecond two or more discontiguous channels to said second user device. 8.The system of claim 1, wherein said full spectrum capture receivercomprises a plurality of radio frequency receive processing chains and aplurality of channelizers.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein saidprocessor is operable to: receive a first version of said selected firsttwo or more discontiguous channels from a first of said channelizers anda second version of said selected first two or more discontiguouschannels from a first of said channelizers; and diversity combine saidfirst version of said selected first two or more discontiguous channelsand said second version of said selected first two or more discontiguouschannels.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein said processor is operableto: designate a first aggregate channel generated from two or morechannels in said range of frequencies as a broadcast lane; and designatea second aggregate channel generated from two or more channels in saidrange of frequencies as a common lane.
 11. The system of claim 1,wherein said range of frequencies is the 2.4 GHz industrial, scientific,and medical band.
 12. The system of claim 1, wherein said range offrequencies is the 5.8 GHz industrial, scientific, and medical band. 13.The system of claim 1, comprising assigning, by said processor, saidfirst two or more discontiguous channels to said first user device andsaid second two or more discontiguous channels to said second userdevice based on said per-user spectral map.
 14. The system of claim 1,comprising receiving, by said processor, a first version of saidselected first two or more discontiguous channels from a first of saidchannelizers and a second version of said selected first two or morediscontiguous channels from a first of said channelizers; and diversitycombining, by said processor, said first version of said selected firsttwo or more discontiguous channels and said second version of saidselected first two or more discontiguous channels.
 15. The system ofclaim 1, comprising: designating, by said processor, a first aggregatechannel generated from two or more channels in said range of frequenciesas a broadcast lane; and designating, by said processor, a secondaggregate channel generated from two or more channels in said range offrequencies as a common lane.
 16. The system of claim 1, wherein saidrange of frequencies is the 2.4 GHz industrial, scientific, and medicalband.
 17. The system of claim 1, wherein said range of frequencies isthe 5.8 GHz industrial, scientific, and medical band.
 18. A methodcomprising: concurrently capturing and digitizing, by a full spectrumcapture receiver of an integrated circuitry for use in a wireless accesspoint, a range of frequencies encompassing each of a first two or morediscontiguous channels assigned to a first user device, and a second twoor more discontiguous channels assigned to a second user device; andselecting, by said full spectrum capture receiver, each of said firsttwo or more discontiguous channels and said second two or morediscontiguous channels for output; combining, by a processor of saidintegrated circuitry for use in a wireless access point, said selectedfirst two or more discontiguous channels from said full spectrum capturereceiver to form a first aggregate channel; demodulating, by saidprocessor, said first aggregate channel to recover data from said firstuser device; combining, by said processor, said selected second two ormore discontiguous channels from said full spectrum capture receiver toform a second aggregate channel; and demodulating, by said processor,said second aggregate channel to recover data from said second userdevice.
 19. The method of claim 18, comprising generating, by saidprocessor, a per-user spectral map that indicates, for each of saidfirst user device and said second user device, the quality of eachchannel in said range of frequencies.